Dairy farming has evolved over the years into a highly efficient and effecting industry. A now common management operation is to place calves in individual calf hutches where they are fed, weaned, immunized and generally cared for until they are deemed ready for transfer to a herd or to a barn.
The purpose of individual calf hutches is to provide sufficient isolation to reduce transfer of disease and other harmful organisms that are carried by more mature animals, as well as to insure that the individual calves get proper nutrition to maximize growth.
Once the calf is weaned, typically when the calf reaches the age of eight or nine weeks, depending on the individual calf and the practices of the farm, it is still common to segregate the calf for a period of time.
Baby calf raising can, unfortunately, be the weakest link in a calf operation, due to stress from the environment, exposure to disease, weather effects such as excessive heat or cold, and contamination from bedding. Ventilation is essential but so is prevention of exposure to rain, wind, snow, and excessive sun.
Calf hutches used for feeding, watering, sheltering and holding calves come in a variety of shapes and configurations, with elaborate doors, vents, and other embodiments. What has been found to be most effective, however, are calf hutches that are dome shaped. The most effective shapes are rounded roof or ceiling domes on a circular base. Other shapes such as ones with multiple sides are also effective, but only when a vent scheme is used that provides for changes in direction of the vent. Cylindrical vent covers that rotate about the vertical axis of the calf hutch allow the operator to open or close various vent holes depending on the environmental conditions and the health of the calf.
If the vent system is not protected, and many are not protected, water in the form of rain or melting snow will cause the bedding to be wet. Wet bedding is unsanitary and can cause harm to the calf's heath. Changing bedding every time it rains is also expensive, and a difficult balance between risk to the calf and cost to maintain the calf offers no good choice.
Many calf farms have a large number of calves, and thus it is necessary to have a large number of calf hutches. This often causes difficulty if the individual hutches, which can weigh between 100 and 200 pounds or more, are awkward to move, and may cause damage to the hutch or injury to the operator.
It would be of advantage in the art if a device could be provided that would allow for protection of the calf and the bedding while permitting adequate ventilation
Yet another advantage would be if the device could be easily moved from one location to another.
Other advantages will appear hereinafter.